Personal Finance

Why is it everyone's wish to travel in retirement?

Joey Frenette

Published: January 24, 2025 6:47 am

It seems like every prospective retiree wants to triple down on travel experiences in their golden years. Whether such a retirement vacation plan entails Caribbean cruises, visiting every State in an RV, venturing through Europe, or exploring the entire world, it’s not hard to imagine that having all sorts of trips is a great way to fit the schedule in a time when one has all the time in the world. Indeed, it’s not hard to imagine why so many people want to travel in their retirement years. It can be pretty tough to “disconnect” when one takes vacation days, as the work piles up while they’re away.

In some instances, vacationers may need to stay tuned in on Slack in case someone needs a bit of timely info from you. Not to mention, vacation days take a long time to accumulate. And once you do have enough of those vacation days saved up, you may not be able to use them when you want if your work has “blackout periods” or times when all employees are expected to give their all (think some sort of crunch time).

In any case, it’s far less stressful to just take a day or two off here and there to hang out around the home or spend time with the children rather than plan a week in some faraway destination. Indeed, there’s plenty of time to travel when one is retired, right? 

Traveling is a big part of retirement for many

By the time one enters their golden years, they may not have racked up as many travel experiences as they would have liked. Whether that’s due to lengthy hours and a lack of time off in their careers, the COVID lockdowns endured earlier this decade, or just a lack of disposable income previously, there’s plenty of opportunity to make up for lost travel time in retirement.

One’s so-called “go-go” years represent the earlier part of retirement that sees retirees finally live the life they’ve always dreamed of. And though running short of money in retirement is still one of the top fears of many new retirees, some folks who were trapped in a pair of “golden handcuffs” may face difficulty in spending down their nest eggs.

Indeed, travel is often seen as a pricey place to put one’s retirement dollars to work if the passive income coming in vastly exceeds one’s expenses. But just because you can spend the money on travel doesn’t mean you should, especially if you don’t actually enjoy it.

Undoubtedly, traveling can be fun, but the endless planning and unfamiliarity can be somewhat stressful for some, especially for those new retirees who’ve committed to traveling for months on end. Indeed, one can overdo it on the travel. So, make sure you move forward with things at a pace you’re most comfortable with. Maybe that entails a weeklong trip to one city rather than “city-hopping” to experience the best a certain continent has to offer.

The bottom line

In any case, just because other retirees have made it a priority to travel does not mean you should. Retirement opens up many doors to enjoy experiences you may not have enjoyed in your working years. But you don’t have to walk through every single door.

Enjoying retirement can entail having a simple and affordable experience (think taking up a new hobby), or it can be a pricey one (travel). The key is spending time and money on things you enjoy most. That’s what retirement is about. Also, feel free to take a quiz from our sponsor to see if you’re on track to retire on schedule.